Christian Radio Fundraising Partnerships Raise Transparency Questions

Partnerships include performance-based compensation and other financial arrangements.

A recent Facebook post is raising questions about the financial partnerships between Christian radio stations and the ministries they promote.

The post comes amid an ongoing lawsuit — filed by Thriving Children Advocates and Newsboys co-founder Wes Campbell against World Vision, The Roys Report and several concert promoters — that has revealed new details about the financial relationships between contemporary Christian music (CCM) artists and the nonprofit charities they promote.

MinistryWatch first reported on the financial partnerships between CCM artists and child sponsorship organizations in February 2024.

Bill Scott of Vidare Creative, a fundraising group that assists ministries, posted about an “opportunity” for Christian radio stations to help garner support for Convoy of Hope.

His first pitch was for a fundraiser encouraging listeners to give $10 a month to help feed children in the United States.

“Your station also receives revenue for each recurring gift generated during the campaign,” Scott wrote. “It’s a win all the way around: children are fed, listeners get to make a meaningful difference, and your station receives additional revenue.”

Scott also mentioned a second campaign for the holiday season, set to launch in early November. That campaign encourages listeners to give a one-time gift of $100, with the station receiving 30% of “everything raised.”

“I especially love this opportunity because it allows your station to make a tangible impact during a time of year when families struggling financially can feel the pressure the most,” Scott wrote.

In the post, Scott offered to provide details, but he did not respond to multiple emails from MinistryWatch. Convoy of Hope also did not respond to requests for details about the partnership.

K-LOVE Communications Director Rhonda Roberts told MinistryWatch, “For many years, K-LOVE has encouraged our listeners to support Convoy of Hope’s disaster relief efforts following natural disasters. K-LOVE receives no revenue, fee or monetary compensation of any kind from this arrangement, and we are not involved in the arrangement being promoted by Vidare Creative.”

According to the Form 990 filed by Educational Media Foundation (EMF), K-LOVE’s parent company, Convoy of Hope received a $500,000 grant from EMF in 2024 for “Christian media.”

Convoy of Hope does not file a Form 990 with the IRS.

In 2022, Compassion International announced a partnership with Hope Media Group, which operates WayFM stations, with a goal of reaching 6,000 or more child sponsorships. The partnership is ongoing, Compassion International spokesperson Tim Glenn confirmed.

Compassion International, which no longer files an informational Form 990 with the IRS, acknowledged that it spent more than $161 million of its $1.3 billion in annual revenue on fundraising in fiscal year 2025.

“Fundraising costs help us to find even more disciples of Christ who are willing to be powerful encouragers in a child’s life,” the Compassion International website states.

Glenn said that as part of the partnership, Hope Media Group received compensation for promotional activities, and “a portion of the arrangement was connected to campaign performance.”

He said this compensation accounts for some of the fundraising costs reported in Compassion’s annual Accountability Report.

When choosing fundraising opportunities, Compassion considers potential return on investment and alignment with its mission. “Hope Media Group was chosen because of their ability to reach an audience of millions and because they share our passion for releasing children from poverty,” Glenn said.

Asked whether Compassion or Hope Media Group makes listeners aware of the financial relationship involved in the fundraising, Glenn said, “We believe listeners generally understood Compassion’s role as the sponsor and presenter of the campaign. However, the specific financial structure of the partnership was not a component of the campaign messaging.”

He added, “Historically, introducing yourself as the sponsor of a concert, event or campaign has generally been understood to indicate that financial support is part of that relationship. Recent media coverage has raised questions about how nonprofit fundraising partnerships function and the role that financial support plays within them. Compassion has long disclosed fundraising expenditures through our annual Accountability Report, and we welcome thoughtful conversations about how those fundraising investments help connect children with sponsors.”

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Brant Hansen, who hosts a syndicated radio show carried on 275 Christian radio stations, is a spokesperson for CURE International.

He has no issue with financial arrangements like the ones proposed by Scott or entered into by Compassion and Hope Media Group, but he believes the fundamental issue with such arrangements is transparency.

“I’m a big fan of disclosure,” Hansen told MinistryWatch. “There are a lot of great people who mean well in our industry. I do think we can lose perspective. We need to conduct ourselves in a way that can be fully disclosed without a conflict of interest. That’s a concern we should all have.”

According to Federal Communications Commission regulations, a noncommercial educational FM broadcasting station can conduct fundraising for a third-party nonprofit if it takes up less than 1% of the station’s airtime.

The station must “air a disclosure during such activities clearly stating that the fundraiser is not for the benefit of the station itself and identifying the entity for which it is fundraising.”

The FCC allows the station to accept reimbursement for “expenses incurred in conducting third-party fundraising activities.”

A separate FCC regulation requires stations to identify any sponsors that give “money, service or other valuable consideration” to the station for the broadcast of a particular matter.

In the MinistryWatch database, both Hope Media Group and Educational Media Foundation have Donor Confidence Scores of 78, meaning donors can give with confidence. Compassion International has a Donor Confidence Score of 51, meaning donors should exercise caution when giving. Convoy of Hope has a Donor Confidence Score of 45, meaning MinistryWatch recommends donors withhold giving to the group.

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